This paper identifies factors that shape how learning proceeds in workplaces. It focuses on the dual bases of how workplaces afford opportunities for learning and how individuals elect to engage in work activities and with the guidance provided by the workplace. Together, these dual bases for participation (co-participation) at work, and the relations between them, are central to understand the kinds of learning that workplaces are able to provide and how improving the quality of that learning might proceed. The readiness of the workplace to afford opportunities for individuals to engage in work activities and access direct and indirect support is a key determinant of the quality of learning in workplaces. This readiness can promote individual's engagement. However, this engagement remains dependent upon the degree by which individuals wish to engage purposefully in the workplace.